GRECO Evaluation
In the fifth evaluation round of GRECO (Group of States Against Corruption), in the report titled “Preventing corruption and promoting integrity in central governments (top executive functions) and the law enforcement agencies”, a total of 23 recommendations are given of which 9 refer to the central government, and 14 to the Ministry of Interior. The aim of this report is to evaluate the efficiency of the measures adopted by the authorities in the country for preventing corruption and promoting integrity in the central government and in the bodies for implementing the law. The law contains critical analysis on the situation, and at the same time identifies the possible shortcomings and gives recommendations for improvement.
In the report it is stated that although the Special Prosecutor’s Office has formed cases for several high-level corruption cases arising from the wiretapping scandal, the prosecutors, generally, do not prosecute systematic high-profile cases or politically sensitive cases. It is considered that the progress in this area depends on whether the judiciary in the country can start to function independently and impartially. North Macedonia has 18 months from the adoption of the report to submit a report on the activities undertaken upon the recommendations of GRECO.
Conflict of Interests
Today the debate on the government reshuffle begins in Parliament, which was proposed by Prime Minister Zoran Zaev. Trajan Dimkovski is proposed for proposed for new Minister of Agriculture, Naser Nuredini for Environment and Physical Planning, Husni Ismaili for Culture, Goran Milevski for Local Self-Government, Sadula Duraku for Political System and Inter-Community Relations. The Prime Minister himself proposed for him to be the future Minister of Finance.
This decision of Zaev encountered strong reactions in the public and on the social media, but the most important one came from the State Commission for Prevention of Corruption and Conflict of Interests. The SCPC addressed the Parliament of the Republic of North Macedonia and Talat Xhaferi, as President of Parliament, with indication of possible conflict of interests if the Prime Minister is at the same time also elected as Minister of Finance.
“In case when the President of the Government of the Republic of North Macedonia would be elected Minister of Finance, there would be violation to the above-mentioned provisions, with which the State Commission will be forced to take specific measures in accordance to its competencies determined in the Law on prevention of corruption and conflict of interests”, stated the SCPC.
Shortly after this statement, Zoran Zaev announced from the Parliament that he would submit a proposal for withdrawal of his appointment as Minister of Finance.
“The Constitution and the Law on the Government allow for the Prime Minister to also be a minister. However, I gave the cabinet an order to withdraw my candidacy for Minister of Finance. According to the authorizations of the Law on the government, I will run the Ministry of Finance until a new minister has been elected”, said Zaev.
NATO
Minister of Defence, Radmila Sekerinska, will be participating these two days at the regular meeting of defence ministers of NATO member states in Brussels. At the meeting, as MIA correspondent informed, the ministers will discuss the budget spending of the member states on defence. Each country has an obligation until 2024 to reach a rate of two percent of their GDP on defence, and thus increase its contribution to the operations of the Alliance. On the agenda will also be a discussion on establishing a framework for the future NATO space policy, and there will also be discussions about Afghanistan and Iran.
This is the second participation of Minister Sekerinska in a ministerial meeting of this format, with which North Macedonia has become an active participant in the functioning of the Alliance. In Brussels, Minister Sekerinska will have bilateral meetings with the defence ministers of Spain, the Netherlands, Italy, Norway and Poland.
Prisons
According to the report of the Ombudsman on the condition of the prisons, some of the remarks refer to torn blankets, destroyed mattresses, toilettes outside the prison building, negligence of the health of the prisoners and the inhumane treatment by the prison officers. In the reporting procedure, a total of 42 preventive visits had been made, of which 11 at police stations and prisons and 31 visits at places for accommodating and detaining refugees. In addition, research was carried out on the degree of respecting the rights of foreign nationals serving a prison sentence in the correctional facility Idrizovo, for which two visits to this institution had been made.
The Ombudsman will submit the report to the Government, the Parliament, competent ministries and to other institutions and institutes in which deprivation or restriction of movement is carried out. International institutions and organizations working in the field of prevention and protection of human rights will also receive the report, including the United Nations Sub-Committee on Prevention of Torture and the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.
Ilovica, blockades, initiatives…
The decision for revoking the concession for the Ilovica mine has practically been made, since formal-legal conditions for terminating the agreement with the concessionaire “Euromax Resources” have been attained, say government sources, reports МЕТА.
Having in consideration that the concession for the Ilovica mine expired three years ago, which was constantly pointed out by eco-activists and representatives of the local population who for some time have been opposing the opening of the mine, it is certain that the decision of the Ministry of Economy will be in favour of the demands for not opening the copper mine Ilovica.
The residents yesterday again for the ninth time blocked the entrance in the Ilovica mine area for the employees of the concessionaire “Euromax Resources” and for the archaeologists of the Strumica Institute for Protection of Cultural Monuments and Archaeological Museum, fearing that the archaeological excavation in the concession area, financed by the concessionaire, practically means preparations for the opening of the mine.
In Bitola, on the other hand, the Independent group of members of the council of the Municipality of Bitola “Different” appealed that it is very easy to do something #Different if there is a will and desire for things to change for the better. Namely, Gabriela Ilievska, an independent member of the municipal council, on her Twitter account through a photo illustrated the action by placing 50 portable garbage bag holders.
“The holders are inexpensive, easy to maintain and cannot be easily damaged. We ask the communal enterprise to regularly change them, we will give them free bags. For a different and clean Bitola”, wrote Ilievska.
CIVIL outdoors: “The citizens for the country or the country for the citizens”
The multimedia event for citizen participation that CIVIL held yesterday in the Skopje City park, went by in a relaxed atmosphere with excellent music, citizens’ stories and a panel discussion titled “The citizens for the country or the country for the citizens”. Before the panel discussion, citizens had the opportunity outdoors, on a screen, namely, through the module Street Media, to see part of the most successful video stories that citizen journalists have made. Dehran Muratov from CIVIL, began the news on the street, in this case in the park, with the story about the residents of the Bitola neighbourhood Bair, which in the 21st century still has no water. Citizen journalist Jovana Zdravevska told more about this.
In addition to the story about the residents in Bitola’s neighbourhood Bair, who in the 21 century are still living without water, citizens had the opportunity to see stories also about the horror in the correctional facilities in the country, about social (in)justice and the everyday problems that citizens face, about discrimination…
At the panel discussion that started at 9.00 pm, professor Mirjana Najcevska, activist Merita Maksuti and professor Jasna Bacovska spoke about (non)transparency and (non)responsibility in the political processes, the rule of law, human rights, the media and citizen participation. The panel discussion was opened with questions on whether the transparency corresponds to the actual picture of the institutions and about what constitutes a service of the state towards the citizens.
B. Jordanovska
